A semi-transparent crimson dome held Al captive. Inside, scorching flames continued to roar, but not a single flicker of heat escaped to the outside. This was a spell Rei had devised specifically to prevent his magic from spreading and causing collateral damage. The inferno raging within was contained so perfectly that it had no effect whatsoever on the world beyond the dome’s edge.
“…You… What on earth are you…?”
Ceryl muttered the words almost unconsciously, likely haunted by the memory of Al being reduced to nothingness in an instant within that red sphere.
Rei’s only response was a faint, cold smirk.
“Well, I certainly am a G-Rank adventurer who just registered with the Guild, exactly as you said.”
He replied to her half-whispered question while snapping his fingers. In that moment, the flames within the dome vanished as if they had been a mere illusion. A second later, the dome itself dissolved into the air.
All that remained was a patch of scorched earth and the half-melted bastard sword Al had once carried. Al himself—along with his leather armor—had been completely incinerated. Not even a trace of ash or charcoal was left behind.
The only mercy was that the intensity of the heat had likely killed him before he could register pain or the terror of death. He had probably perished in a flash, his life extinguished without him ever understanding what had happened.
“D-Don’t… Don't screw with me! There’s no way a mere G-Rank adventurer could burn a man to ash in an instant! You shouldn't be able to use magic that powerful, let alone control it so perfectly that it doesn't even singe the grass!”
Witnessing Al’s total erasure, Ceryl finally understood that the man looking down at her from the roof with icy eyes was no ordinary newcomer.
The price for that realization had been the lives of her three companions. The Stars of the Night had been reduced to a party of one.
“…It seems there’s a misunderstanding, so let me clarify. It’s true that I am a G-Rank adventurer who only recently registered with the Guild. That’s a fact. However, the magic and techniques I acquired before registering didn't simply vanish the moment I signed my name. Your mistake was assuming that my combat and magic skills were those of a novice just because my rank is low. You must have heard the rumors about me, but I suppose you didn't take a newcomer seriously?”
Ceryl was aware of the stories—how this man had single-handedly defeated the D-Rank party Falcon’s Claws and how he commanded an A-Rank monster like a Gryphon. Even so, she had been blinded by a baseless confidence that she could somehow handle him. That fatal error had led to the deaths of every other member of her party.
“Damn it! Then who the hell are you!?”
Ceryl glared up at Rei, gritting her teeth and screaming the words. Rei ignored her outburst and lightly kicked off the roof, jumping down to the ground.
The way he landed with barely a sound was yet another testament to the fact that he was no ordinary G-Rank.
“Who knows? I’m not kind enough to give a parting gift to someone about to die.”
He began to whirl the Death Scythe, the massive blade cutting through the air with sharp whistles, yet his gaze never left Ceryl.
(Now that she’s seen what I can do with magic, she’ll probably try to run the moment I start a chant. I should have finished her off alongside that Al guy... but I suppose even a C-Rank adventurer has some survival instincts.)
Rei narrowed his eyes like a predator and began to steadily close the distance.
Ceryl watched him approach, her pulse racing. Having witnessed his true strength, she knew that turning her back to flee would be suicide. She retreated step by step, maintaining the gap as Rei advanced.
However, she couldn't back away forever. Eventually, her shoulders hit the wall of a building—likely an Orc dwelling.
Seeing her cornered, Rei spoke with a thin smile.
“I believe you’ve stalled for long enough. I need to get back to supporting the other parties in the night raid. I’d like to settle this now… if you don’t mind.”
He stopped the rotation of the Death Scythe abruptly, pointing the tip directly at Ceryl’s throat.
“…Based on what I’ve seen, I know I’m outmatched. But don’t think I’m just going to roll over and die! I’ll claw my way out of this if it’s the last thing I do!”
Whether she was hoping for other adventurers to arrive or had simply found her resolve, Ceryl gave a desperate shout and hurled the shield in her left hand straight at Rei’s face.
“A distraction?”
Rei muttered, sounding bored. He swung the Death Scythe, its blade reinforced with magic power. The weapon, now preternaturally sharp, sliced through the flying shield as if it were made of paper.
Ceryl hadn't expected the shield to actually work—she had seen what happened to Murgas and Sni. Her only goal was to divert Rei’s attention for a fraction of a second. She needed to land just one blow.
If she had fled the moment she threw the shield, she might have made it if luck was on her side. But knowing Rei’s physical speed, she had judged that escape was impossible without first wounding him. This was her gamble—a single, all-or-nothing strike.
“Hyaaaaaaaah!”
With a piercing war cry, she lunged for his torso. The head was too small a target, and aiming for the arms wouldn't guarantee a clean kill. That left the legs or the torso. She chose the latter, hoping to pierce his internal organs. Given Rei’s agility, she figured he would be more likely to evade a low strike. She went for the largest target available, the center of his mass.
It was the strike of a cornered rat biting a cat—a desperate, do-or-die lunge delivered with surprising speed. It was a thrust, the technique Ceryl was most proficient with.
By the time the Death Scythe had finished cleaving the shield, Ceryl’s blade was already inches away from his solar plexus…
“Close.”
However, what Ceryl considered her absolute best was something Rei could counter reflexively.
Using the long shaft of the Death Scythe that had just finished its diagonal slash, Rei knocked the incoming blade upward.
Ceryl’s soul-stirring lunge met Rei’s casual parry. Ordinarily, the momentum of the former should have carried the day, but the sheer disparity in their physical stats was absolute.
With a sharp clink!, Ceryl’s sword snapped in two. The broken half of the blade spun through the air before embedding itself in the ground.
With more than half its length gone, her strike was left clutching at empty air.
“I-Impossible… That was my full strength! You broke it like it was nothing…”
“…Too bad. It seems our basic stats are just on different levels.”
Rei muttered quietly. Keeping the momentum from the parry, he swung the Death Scythe in a reverse diagonal slash—from bottom-left to top-right.
Ceryl must have sensed the sudden surge of killing intent. Though she had been staring in shock at her shattered sword, she reflexively threw herself backward. It was a fraction of a second too late. The blade of the scythe tore through her in a rising diagonal. The only reason she wasn't cleaved in two was that desperate, instinctive leap.
“Gugh!”
Groaning in agony, Ceryl collapsed to one knee. The wound was deep, running from her left hip to her right shoulder. No matter how hard she pressed her hands against the gash, she couldn't stem the flow of blood. Watching her life spill onto the earth, Rei gripped his scythe and stepped forward to deliver the end.
“I… won’t… die like this!”
She reached down and grabbed the dirt at her feet—now a slurry of mud and her own blood—and hurled it at Rei’s face with her remaining strength.
Rei didn't dodge or block it with his robe. He simply swung his weapon.
A dull boom echoed from the force of the swing, and the shockwave blew the bloody mud away before it could touch him.
“Futile effort… No, I see.”
Rei was about to dismiss the attack, but he realized her true intent when he looked at her again. She had snatched a potion from her belt—the same ones Bobbs had distributed—and dumped it over her wound.
The Death Scythe had sliced through both her leather armor and her flesh, but Rei could see the wound knitting back together under the potion’s potent effect.
“Ha… You don’t even flinch at the sight of a woman’s skin, do you?”
Ceryl muttered venomously, covering her partially exposed chest where the armor had been shredded. However, she quickly removed her hands, flaunting her nearly nude state.
“Hey, what do you think? If I said I’d let you do whatever you want with this body in exchange for my life, would you take the deal?”
She looked up at him with seductive, pleading eyes. Ceryl was a handsome woman, and in her semi-nude state, she projected a powerful allure that would have enticed any man who didn't know her character.
“…I killed three of your companions, you know.”
Thinking she had found his price, Ceryl shook her head slightly.
“They knew the risks when they became adventurers. If they died here, it just means their ‘vessels’ weren't big enough to survive. That’s all.”
“I see.”
Rei muttered. Ceryl began to lean into him, attempting to press her exposed breasts against his body...
“They really were pathetic, those guys. Dying for someone like you.”
Rei stepped aside with a swift motion. Ceryl, who had been leaning her weight toward him, lost her balance and tumbled onto the dirt.
“Wait! What do you think you’re—!”
She turned to snap at him, but her words died in her throat. Instead of Rei’s robe, she found herself staring at the wicked edge of the Death Scythe.
“Wait! Why!? I said you could have me! I offered my body!”
“You certainly made a proposal, but I don't recall agreeing to it.”
As he spoke, the faces of Al and Sni flashed through his mind.
The woman who had used her teammate as a shield while firing her bow.
The man who had attacked with everything he had even after realizing how outclassed he was.
Neither had been particularly strong. They were roughly on par with the Falcon’s Claws members Rei had crushed in Gilm. But at least they had possessed a shred of resolve.
Rei looked down at Ceryl. Her face was indeed beautiful, possessing the charm of a mature woman. But to Rei, her internal ugliness was so transparent that her face held no more value to him than that of an Orc.
“Even if I were looking for a bed partner, I’d pass on a woman like you. Honestly, I wouldn't sleep with you if you paid me.”
“What!?”
Ceryl took great pride in her looks. Being told she wasn't worth bedding even for money made the blood rush to her face in a fit of rage.
“You brat! I’m not the kind of woman a G-Rank nobody like you should even be allowed to look at! And yet you—”
“Enough. Shut up.”
Deciding there was no point in listening to her any longer, Rei raised the Death Scythe with a casual motion.
“Hii!”
With a short, sharp gasp, the last thing Ceryl saw was the massive blade swinging down toward her like the edge of a guillotine.
“Even in a frontier city full of adventurers, the quality really is a mixed bag.”
He looked down at Ceryl’s corpse, her head separated from her shoulders, and sighed. There was no guilt or horror in his expression, only a slight furrow of his brow as if he were looking at something unpleasant.
“Gururuu.”
Set emerged from the shadows and rubbed its head against Rei’s side, offering comfort.
“Yeah, I know. It’s not all bad. There are still respectable adventurers like those in the Axe of the Thunder God.”
Rei scratched Set behind the ears to clear his head.
“All right, Set. Time to get back to work. I assume the leader hasn't shown up yet?”
“Guruu.”
Rei mounted Set’s back with practiced ease as the Gryphon purred in response.
“Good. Let’s start by supporting the other parties while we hunt for another Orc Mage and an Orc General. I’ve already collected six Orc Archers, so I don’t strictly need more… but I’ll take them if we see them.”
“Gurururururuu!”
Set let out a piercing cry that signaled its return and took flight after a short dash.
As the clouds broke and the moonlight washed over the camp, the man and the beast ascended into the night sky.